Chapter 14: Forging the national Economy (1790-1860)
I. The Westward
Movement
a.
US
marched quickly toward west( very hard w/ disease & loneliness)
b.
Frontier
people were individualistic, superstitious & ill-informed
II. Shaping the
Western Landscape
a.
westward
movement molded environment
-tobacco exhausted land *&
moved on, but “Kentucky blue grass” thrived
b.
ecological
imperialism
-trapped beavers, sea otters, and
Bison to manufacture for East
c.
spirit
of nationalism led to appreciation of American wilderness
-Catlin pushed for national park
& achieved it w/ Yellowstone in 1872
III. The March of
the Millions
a.
mid-1800s,
pop cont’d to double every 25 years
b.
1860-orginial
13 states now has 33 states; pop 4th in the world (Russ, Fra,
Austria)
c.
urban
growth cont’d explosively
-1790-only New York &
Philadelphia had >20,000 people, but 1860, 43 had
-brought
bad sanitation à sewage system & pipe-in water
d.
high
birthrate had accounted for pop growth, but near 1850s, millions of Irish,
German came
-because surplus pop. in Euro but not
all came to US 25/60 million
-appealing of US (land, freedom
from church, aristocracy, 3 meat meals a day)
-intro of transoceanic
steamship (reduce traveling to 12 days, death rate high not as bad)
IV. The Emerald Isle
Moves West(1830s-1960s-2 million)
a.
Irish
potato famine in mid-1840s led to death of 2million & many flee to US
-“Black Forties”—mainly came to
big city-Boston, esp. New York (biggest Irish city)
-illiterate, discriminated by Old
US, received lowest of job (railroad building)
-hated by Protestants because of Catholic
-US hated Irish (NINA); Irish
hated competition w/ blacks for job
-Ancient Order of Hibernians (serve
to aid Irish)
-gradual property owning (grand
success), children ed. Cut short to buy land
-attracted to politics, filled police
dept.
-politician tried to appeal to
Irish by yelling at London
V. The German
Forty-Eighters
a. 1 million poured in bet 1830s-1860s bec.
crop failures & loose of rev of 1848 toward liberalism
-liberals
such as Carl Schurz contributed to elevation of US politic
-had
more $ than Irish so bought land in west esp. in Wisconsin
-votes
crucial so wooed by US politicians but not as potent bec. spread out
-contributed
to US culture (Christmas tree); isolationism
-urged
public education & freedom(enemies of slavery)
-resentment
from Old bec. group & aloof; brought beers to US
VI. Flare-ups of
Antiforeignism
a.
“nativists”
prejudiced newcomers in jobs, poli, religion
b.
catholic
became major relig. group bec. immigration of 1840s, 50s & set out to build
catholic school
c.
nativist
feared that Catholicism build on Protestantism (popish idols) so formed “Order
of star-spangled Banner”
-met in secrecy-“Know-Nothing”
party
-fought for restriction on
immigration, naturalization & deportation of alien paupers
-wrote fiction books about
corruption of churches
-mass violence, ex. Philadelphia
1844-burned churches, schools, people killed
-made America pluralistic society
w/ diversity
-no longer hated bec. crucial to
eco expansion & more availability of jobs
VII. The March of
Mechanization
a.
Industrial
revolution spread to US & US destined to be an industrial giant bec.
-land was cheap, labor scare, $
for investment plentiful, raw materials not discovered
-lacked consumer for factory-scale
manufacturing
-British long-estab. factory was
competition
-kept textile to own monopoly (forbade travel of crafts men
& export of machine)
b.
US
remained very rural to farming
VIII. Whitney Ends
the Fiber Famine
a.
Samuel
Slater – “Father of the Factory System”
-learned machinery when working in
British Factoryà escaped to US, aided by Moses Brownà
build 1st cotton thread spinner in US (1791)
b.
Eli
Whitney build a cotton gin (50 times more effective than hand picking cotton)
-cotton eco now profitable, saved
the South to King Cotton
-south flourished & expanded
cotton kingdom toward west
-north factories manufactured,
esp. New England (w/ poor soil, dense labor, access to sea, river for water
power)
IX. Marvels in
Manufacturing
a.
embargo
of war of 1812 encouraged home manufacture
b.
w/
peace of Ghent, British poured in surplus in cheap $, forcing close of American
factory
c.
congress
passed Tariff of 1816 to protect US eco
d.
Eli
Whitney introduce machine made replaceable parts (on muskets)-1850
-base of assembly line (flourished
North); cotton gin flourished south
e.
Elias
Howe & Issac Singer (1846) made sewing machine (foundation of clothing
industry)
f.
Decades
of 1860 had 28,000 patents while 1800 only had 306
g.
Principle
of limited liability (can’t lose more than invested) stimulate eco
h.
Laws
of “free incorporation” (1848)-no need to apply for charter from legislature to
start corp.
i.
Samuel Morse’s telegraph connected business world-“What
hath god wrought?”
X. Workers and “Wage
Slaves”
a.
factory
system led to impersonal relations
b.
benefit
went to factory owner, labors were long, wages low, meals bad, no union
c.
child
labor heavy; ½ of force child labors
d.
adult
working condition improved in 1820s & 30s w/ mass vote to workers
-10hour day, higher $, tolerable
condition, public edu, ban of imprisonment for debt
-1840s presi. Buren estab. 10 hour
day
-many stroked but lost bec.
employers import more workers (so hated immigrants)
e.
union
formed in 1830s but hit by panic of 1837
-case of Commonwealth vs. Hunt in
supreme court of Mass. (1842)
-legalized
union on peaceful & honorable protest
XI. Women and the
Economy
a.
women
were toiled in factory under bad conditions (scare of pop)
b.
opportunities
rare & women mainly in nursing, domestic service, teaching
c.
women
worked before marriage, after marry-house wives (made more decisions in
family)
d.
arrange
marriage died down; marriage w/ love tied family closer
e.
family
grew smaller (avg. 6); fertility rate dropped sharply (“domestic feminism”
f.
child-centered
w/ less children & discipline not physically
g.
character
of family: small, affectionate, child-centered, small arena for talented women
XII. Western Farmers
Reap a Revolution in the Fields
a.
trans-Allegheny
region (Ohio-Indiana-Illinois) became nation’s breadbasket
-planted corns & raised hogs
(known as “porkopolis” of the west”
b.
inventions
that boomed agriculture
-John Deere-steel plow that cut
through hard soil & can be pulled by horses
-Cyrus McCormick-mechanical
mower-reaper
c.
led
to large-scale production & cash crops
d.
produced
more than south; product flow N to S in rivers, not E & W-need
transportation rev,
XIII. Highways and
Steamboats
a.
improvements
in transportation needed for raw material transport
b.
Lancaster
turnpike-hard road from Philadelphia & Lancaster; brought eco expansion to
west
c.
Federal
gov. construct Cumberland Road (Maryland -Illinois)(1811-1852 )w/ state &
federal $
d.
Robert
Fulton invents steam engine (Steam boats)-1807
-increase US trade bec. no concern
for weather & water current
-contributed to dev. of S & W
eco
XIV. “Clinton’s Big Ditch”
in New York
a.
Clinton’s
Big Ditch-Erie Canal bet. Great Lake & Hudson River(1817-1825)
-shorten expense & time of
transportation & cities grew along the side, $ of food reduced
-farmers unable to compete in east
went to west; changes in food
XV. Pioneer Railroad
Promoters
a.
1st
railroad in US(1828); by 1860-30,000 mi. railroad tracks in US(3/4 at north)
b.
railroad
1st opposed bec. financier afraid to loose $ from Erie canal &
also cause fire to houses
c.
trains
were badly constructed (brakes bad) & gauge of traveling varied
XVI. The Transport
Web Binds the Union
a.
steamboat
allowed reverse transport of S to E to bind them together
b.
more
canals led to more trade w/ East than South by the west
c.
New
York became the Queen port of the countryà
goods distributed
d.
Principle
of divided labor-each region specialize in own eco activity
-S-cotton to New Eng.; W-grain
& livestock for E & Euro; E-machines, textiles for s &W
e.
S
thought Mississippi River linked them to other states; but overlooked 2 N states are
eco-interconnected
f.
Transformed
home-once center of eco but now refugee of home
XVII. Wealth and
Poverty
a.
widen
the gap bet. Rich & poor
b.
city
w/ greatest extreme
-unskilled workers were
“drifters”-town to town for jobs (1/2 of industrial pop)-forgotten
-social mobility existed but not in
proportion, rags-to-rich were rare
c.
standard
of living did raise, wage rose too (helped diffuse potential class conflict)
XVIII. Cables,
Clippers, and Pony Riders
a.
foreign
export
-cotton account for ½ of exports
-after repeal of Corn Law of 1846,
wheat became imp role in trade w/ Eng.
b.
American
imported more than exported (substantial debt to foreign creditors)
c.
1858-Cyrus Field laid Cable bet. US &
Euro (but died in 3 weeks); better one
in 1866
d.
American
vessels laid by embargoes, panics; naval made little progress
-gold age of naval came in 1840s,
50s –Mckay build clipper ships (fast, long)
-tea
trade w/ British & carried many to CA
-crushed
by British’s iron tramp steamers
e.
speedy
communication-roads from Missouri to CA, Pony Express
